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Small Changes Can Lead to Big Weight Loss Results

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Contributed by: Joe Ramirez on 7/16/2008

Have you bought into the myth that losing weight and getting fit requires tons of time and energy? Time and energy you don't have? If so, you're not alone, says Joe Ramirez, who provides in-home Personal Training in Colorado Springs, adding that finding the time and energy to work out remains one of the biggest obstacles for most people.

"I'm too busy to make healthy meals."
"At the end of a long day, I'm too tired to work out."
"My life's so crazy, I don't have time to focus on myself!"

"I hear comments like these every day from people who have bought into the myth," Ramirez explains. "What they don't realize is that getting and staying fit doesn't have to require hours and hours. In fact, with a few small lifestyle changes, it's possible to consume fewer calories, rev up your body's fat burning furnace and drop pounds."

According to Ramirez, it begins with awareness. He explains, "Most people have no idea what or how much they're really eating." Ramirez, who provides in-home personal training , instructs his clients to embrace three simple changes:

• Study food labels. Have you ever grabbed an "individual" sized pre-packaged snack-say, a bag of chips or mini-muffins-glanced at the calories and thought to yourself, "Only 110 calories, that's not so bad!" Unfortunately, after eating the entire thing, you read the label and discover there were three servings stuffed in that tiny bag. Studying nutritional labels on prepackaged foods will help you avoid surprises like these. You can also go to www.calorieking.com to look up food values on foods that don't have labels.
• When in doubt, brown-bag it. It's easy for even healthy-sounding meals at your neighborhood restaurant to contain loads of extra hidden calories or more. When you want to keep close tabs on your intake, consider packing a sack-lunch.
• Keep a nutrition journal and write everything down. In a recent study, researchers found that dieters who kept food journals lost nearly twice the weight as non-journalers. Ramirez has seen similar results, reporting that his clients who keep food journals see significantly greater weight loss and also stick with fitness programs longer. Ramirez has developed a detailed food journal you can download free during the month of July by going to www.joesbootcamp.com.

As his clients become more aware of what they are eating, Ramirez also encourages them to become more active. Once again, small lifestyle changes are the key. He says, "Most of my clients don't have hours to spend in the gym everyday. I tell them they don't have to." He recommends breaking workouts into 10 - 15 minute segments. He also advises the following:

• Keep track of how active you are by wearing a pedometer. Then, gradually increase your steps by adding 500 steps per day until you reach 10,000 steps per day. Even if it takes months to reach this goal, with consistent progress you will see the results you're looking for.
• Redeem some of the time you spend watching TV. According to the Nielsen Company, the average American watches more than four hours of TV each day. And with 16 minutes of commercials every hour, that can add up to an hour of exercise every day-if you use that time wisely. Ramirez recommends quick bouts of exercise that can be completed in the time it takes to watch a couple TV commercials. "During one commercial, do lower body movements. During the following commercial, do pushups and other upper body movements. Also, try jogging in place, crunches, reverse lunges, squats and dips. Depending on your TV watching habits, you could burn several hundred extra calories every day just during the commercials, adding up to significant pounds lost over the course of weeks and months."

Finally, once you know where you stand with your caloric intake and activity level, continue making small adjustments. Ramirez instructs his clients to do the following:
• Strive to reduce 300 - 500 calories per day by eating four to five smaller meals throughout the day and shaving off as little as 60 - 80 calories per meal instead of skipping meals. By reducing your calories by 500 calories per day-and ramping up your activity level to burn just 500 extra calories each day-you will lose up to 2 pounds of fat per week!
• Continue looking for small ways to be more active. Keep an eye on your pedometer and add more steps whenever you can: Park your car at the far end of the parking lot, take stairs rather than elevators, hand-deliver office memos rather than emailing.
• Pay attention to portions. Eat meals from smaller plates and you'll eat less. Also, get in the habit of using measuring cups to serve yourself. Use ½ cup to ladle up a serving of rice, 1 cup to measure out a serving of vegetables, etc. Again, read labels or go to www.calorieking.com to see what a "normal" serving of that food should look like.

"The good news is that losing weight and getting fit doesn't have to feel like the equivalent of a part-time job," says Ramirez. "With the gradual introduction of healthy, permanent changes, you can create-and sustain-the weight loss results you crave."

Joe Ramirez is a personal trainer, coach and fitness educator offering fitness seminars, in-home personal training as well as fitness boot camps throughout Colorado Springs. Joe is certified with numerous organizations including the American Council on Exercise, the International Sports Sciences Association and is a member of IDEA (The International Association of Fitness Professionals. To find out more about in-home personal training or Joe's fitness boxing, go to www.joesboxing.com.

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Joe Ramirez

Colorado Springs , CO

Joe Ramirez has posted 25 stories and 0 comments since joining on 9/16/2007. Joe Ramirez 's average story rating is 5.

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